Assvertising

Best Buy's got a new commercial advertising its Geek Squad tech repair services:


[Transcript below.]
Well, it's a good thing that women aren't routinely objectified and women in technology aren't routinely marginalized, or else this ad would be wildly offensive!

Best Buy, naturally, has every right to communicate that women's primary value to them is as fetishized sex objects. Message received. The (substantial amount of) money I spend at tech stores (and have in the past spent at Best Buy) will be taken elsewhere.

Contact Best Buy's "Diversity & Inclusion Team" here.

Scene: A Best Buy store. A white mother and her white, college-aged son are browsing laptops, with the help of a Best Buy employee, who is a young black man. There is a sign reading: "Buy a laptop, get a geek."

Son [looking at a particular laptop]: Man, this is perfect.

Employee: Great. Well, with every laptop, you get a geek, so, take your pick. [He gestures at the wall, and they walk over, where adult humans are packaged in clear boxes as if giant dolls.]

Mom: Look at all these fabulous geeks. There are so many. [They walk past an Asian man in a box, then a white man in a box, and then come to a black man in a box.] Look at this one. It helps you [reading info on box] "video chat with Mom."

[Son comes to a stop in front of a white woman in box; she is young, thin, conventionally beautiful, brunette, with her hair up in a bun, and wearing glasses—a sort of classic "sexy librarian" look.]

Son: Bingo.

Mom [pointing at black male geek]: Look at this one—you can video chat with me, honey.

Son [staring, gape-mouthed, and moving closer to white female geek]: Mom, go get the car.

Mom [to employee]: He's in such a hurry to learn!

Voiceover: Buy a new laptop and get Geek Squad support for six months—online, on the phone, or in-store.

[Assvertising: Parts One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen, Sixteen, Seventeen, Eighteen, Nineteen, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113.]